While I believe that Democrats have a great chance in 2016 to take the White House and the Senate back, they will lose again in 2018, and help give the 2020 census to Republicans giving them even more districts in 2022 that lean republican.
And the reason to this is that Democrats don't know how to run multiple campaigns on a shared platform.
Both Joni Ernst and Gardner signed onto personhood bills, but the candidates talked about how such bills outlaw abortions and not the other things such bills would do to rights of women.
Ads should have been about how the personhood bills were not opinions about life but actual laws that would have effected people. They should have pointed out miscarriages could result in criminal investigations if the laws passed, and that it would outlaw most common forms of birth control.
When they ran ads on minimum wage, they should have pointed out, as minimum wage goes up in the nation, all other wages would go up also, that there has been inflation the past years, with no wage increases to go along with the inflation due to Republican opposition.
When Republicans bring up the ACA, Democrats need to point out it is not government healthcare, but is vouchers for private healthcare, like vouchers for private schools that many voters are in favor of implementing.
When Republicans complain about the southern border, Democrats need to ask them about how the northern border is not secured and the millions of miles of coast lines that are not secure, and ask the Republicans if they are for a comprehensive package to put trillions of dollars into actually securing the United States.
Income inequality does not work, as most people imagine themselves as millionaires in the future, and don't want that future money taxed at higher rates then they are taxed currently. You can't tell voters that they won't be millionaires in the future and so their worries about excessive taxation on millionaires is delusional.
What needs talked about is opportunity inequality, how they and their children should have the same chances as those born to the upper class, and that a progressive tax is used to provide such services and programs for such opportunities.
Don't talk about doing away with loopholes, but of how it is unfair that not everybody can use such loopholes and therefore, unless everybody is allowed the loopholes, then nobody should be given access to the loopholes.
And don't run campaigns running ads hoping people will vote for you or another will do a GOTV for you, but actually create a campaign that gets out the vote, staff your campaign expecting each staffer to get 500 votes for you, and each staffer is responsible for a group of volunteers to knock on the door for you.
You are a salesman, knocking on 10 to 20 doors is equal to 1 vote, and you must actually have a staff that can knock on knock on 10 to 20 doors per vote needed to win. When you do come into contact with a voter that will vote for you, ask them if they want to vote early, help them vote early and keep in contact with them until they vote or until election day is over, whichever comes first.
Most campaigns for Democrats failed because while they held up signs for GOTV, they did not run campaigns for GOTV. What is especially soobering, is to realize a Secretary of State, who deals with voting and voter registration, could fail to run a close race in a Senate race.
If you don't learn the lessons of the past, that door knocking is more effective as proven by Obama in 2008 and 2012, that banking votes by encouraging contacts to vote early, and that a solid stance on issues wins elections, then as I said, 2018 is lost for the Democrats.